Solar Park Impacts on Ecosystem Services: a Framework for Best-Practice (SPIES)

确保有足够的能源是一项全球性挑战，这一挑战是由不断增长的需求和转向低碳能源以避免危险的气候变化所引起的。光伏发电，包括安装在建筑物和地面上的光伏发电，预计将成为未来能源的关键组成部分，最近美国的清洁能源计划以及中国和日本的政策都特别强调太阳能发电。此外，太阳能越来越具有成本竞争力，大型太阳能园区的成本现在与传统能源的成本相似。在英国，47%的太阳能光伏是地面安装的太阳能公园。在赤道35度以内的国家已经转向地面安装的太阳能公园，预计欧洲将转向大规模的地面安装系统。与传统能源相比，太阳能园区需要占用相对较大的土地来生产能源。然而，尽管太阳能园区占用的土地面积不断扩大，但人们对其建设、实际存在和管理对景观的影响知之甚少，也不知道我们如何利用这种土地利用转型提供的机会带来额外的好处，例如增强绿色基础设施和生态连通性。在转向低碳能源的同时，鉴于人口增长和资源压力的增加，人们越来越认识到我们需要保护我们的环境，因为它提供了许多有助于社会福祉和经济繁荣的商品（如作物）和服务（如碳储存）。太阳能园区的土地覆盖面积不断增加，为最大限度地提供此类商品和服务提供了绝佳的机会，与太阳能园区建设相关的管理方案相比，管理方案的成本相对较低。因此，本项目将开发一种决策支持工具，以评估太阳能园区的影响，包括其建设、实体存在和管理，对景观提供的商品和服务的影响。有五个关键组成部分：1。1 .综合现有太阳能园区指南；2 .编制太阳能公园对景观提供的商品和服务的有利和不利影响的纲要；3 .量化太阳能园区运营生命周期内商品和服务的变化；4 .开发决策支持工具，促进太阳能园区优化部署和管理；向更广泛的太阳能开发社区传播项目成果。有11个项目合作伙伴，涵盖了所有太阳能公园的利益相关者：Christine Coonick，国家太阳能中心；Ed Jessamine, Novus Solar；尼克·怀特，自然英格兰；Jonathan Scurlock，全国农民联盟；Jon Abbatt， ADAS；Richard Winspear， RSPB；梅勒妮·多德，威尔特郡议会；Adam Twine, Colleymore Farm；James Ryle, Good Energy；还有菲利普·邓肯，科里勒斯。该项目的主要成果是SPIES（太阳能公园对生态系统服务的影响）决策支持工具，它将提供一种标准化的方法来确定安装和管理太阳能公园的最佳方式。因此，该工具将对开发商、顾问和监管机构有用，并可能减少长期和昂贵的规划应用程序，这将有利于各方。国家太阳能中心将帮助我们将这一工具纳入政策，从而为可持续能源生产和从景观中提供商品和服务做出显著的持续贡献。此外，鉴于太阳能公园在全球范围内的扩散，以及全球对自然环境重要性的认识日益增强，拟议的工具可以帮助刺激商业和投资机会的创新，并建立英国作为太阳能公园部署全球领导者的声誉。关键词：太阳能园区，低碳能源，生态系统服务，绿色基础设施

Ensuring there is sufficient energy is a global challenge, caused by increasing demand and the need to move to low carbon energy to avoid dangerous climate change. Photovoltaics, including those mounted on buildings and the ground, are predicted to provide a key component of energy in the future, with the recent US Clean Power Plan and policies in China and Japan placing particular emphasis on solar power. Further, solar energy is increasingly cost competitive, with large scale solar park costs now similar to that of conventional energy sources. Within the UK, 47 % of solar photovoltaics are ground-mounted as solar parks. There has been a shift towards ground-mounted solar parks in countries within 35 degrees of the equator and a shift toward large-scale ground-mounted systems in Europe is anticipated. Solar parks take up a relatively large area of land for the energy they produce compared with conventional sources of energy. Yet, despite the expanding land area occupied by solar parks little is known of the impacts of their construction, physical presence and management on the landscape, or how we can use the opportunities provided by this land use transition to bring additional benefits, such as enhanced green infrastructure and ecological connectivity. Alongside switching to low carbon energy sources, in the light of growing populations and heightened pressures on resources, it is becoming increasingly recognised that we need to protect our environment, since it provides many goods (e.g. crops) and services (e.g. carbon storage) that contribute to the wellbeing and economic prosperity of society. The increasing land cover of solar parks presents an excellent opportunity to maximise the provisioning of such goods and services, with management options relatively low cost compared with those related to solar park construction. Therefore, this project will develop a decision-support tool to assess the impacts of solar parks, including their construction, physical presence and management, on the goods and services the landscape provides. There are five key components:1. Synthesis of existing solar park guidelines;2. Production of a compendium of the beneficial and detrimental effects of solar parks on goods and services supplied by the landscape;3. Quantification of the change in goods and services over the operational life-time of solar parks;4. Development of a decision-support tool that promotes the optimal deployment and management of solar parks;5. Dissemination of the outcomes of the project to the broader solar development community.There are 11 project partners, covering all solar park stakeholders: Christine Coonick, National Solar Centre; Ed Jessamine, Novus Solar; Nick White, Natural England; Jonathan Scurlock, National Farmers Union; Jon Abbatt, ADAS; Richard Winspear, RSPB; Melanie Dodd, Wiltshire Council; Adam Twine, Colleymore Farm; James Ryle, Good Energy; and Phillip Duncan, Corylus. The key output from the project is the SPIES (Solar Park Impacts on Ecosystem Services) decision-support tool, which will provide a standardised means of identifying the best way to install and manage solar parks. Thus the tool will be useful for developers, consultees and regulatory agencies and may reduce prolonged and expensive planning applications, which will be beneficial to all parties. The National Solar Centre will help us drive the tool into policy which would lead to a noteworthy sustained contribution to sustainable energy generation and the supply of goods and services from the landscape. Further, given the global proliferation of solar parks and the growing global awareness of the importance of our natural environment, the proposed tool could help to stimulate innovation in business and investment opportunities, and build the UK's reputation as a global leader in solar park deployment.Keywords: solar parks, low carbon energy, ecosystem services, green infrastructure